Dog Friendly City Guide: Napa, California

At Carneros Resort and Spa, the bicycles come with a trailer for the dog. It is the kind of detail that tells you how Napa thinks about dogs. Wine country is not only tasting rooms with a water bowl by the door. The town of Napa itself, at the southern end of the valley, has riverside paths, patios along First Street and the Oxbow, a beer garden whose answer to the dog question is "Yes, we love dogs", and a city park of 157 acres with ground set aside for dogs to run off the lead. This guide is built from our own venue and walk data, the City of Napa's own rules, the Downtown Napa Association's dog friendly lists and the dog friendly hotels in Napa we have assessed and ranked.

Getting There With a Dog

Driving in from elsewhere in the United States, there is no paperwork at the county line. Flying in from abroad, the rules are set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A dog that has only been in countries the CDC counts as free of dog rabies or low risk in the past six months must, according to the CDC's own requirements page, be at least six months old, carry a microchip that a universal scanner can read, travel with a receipt for a CDC Dog Import Form and look healthy on arrival, and it can then enter at any airport, seaport or land border crossing. A dog that has been in a high-risk country in that time faces extra steps that depend on where it was vaccinated, and an unvaccinated dog from a high-risk country will not be let in at all, so start with the CDC's dog import page well before you book. Our guide to taking your dog abroad puts the paperwork in the order it has to be done.

Where to Stay

The pick of the town is Carneros Resort and Spa, ranked A, a five-star resort of 86 rooms spread across 28 acres of vineyard on the Sonoma Highway. Its own pet page puts the dog in a farmhouse cottage with its own fenced yard, so the morning coffee happens on the porch while the dog has the grass. The welcome is a bed and bowl, locally made treats, a Carneros dog toy, a lead, waste bags and paw wipes, and there is Kelso's Dog Park, an enclosed space on the grounds for dogs to play. Dogs join you in the lounge and at the outdoor tables of the restaurant, and on the FARM Pavilion, Town Square and Hilltop Patio. The resort can set up a dog walker or sitter for a fee, there is no weight or breed limit, and the fee runs from $150 to $300 a stay depending on the room, with no deposit.

On the south side of town, The Meritage Resort and Spa, ranked B, is a four-star resort of 322 rooms with a garden and a dog space of its own. The room comes with a bed and bowls and treats at no extra cost, there is no weight limit and no deposit, and a settled dog may stay in the room while you are out. The fee is $100.

Stanly Ranch, Auberge Collection, ranked C, is the one where every room takes a dog. Its 127 rooms sit on the ranch south of town, the bar, terrace, lounge and garden are all open to dogs, and the bed, bowls, treats and poop bags are complimentary. The hotel's own walk is the Lovers Lane trail, and the valet stand keeps the map. The fee is $250 a stay, with no deposit and no weight limit.

Over the hill in Sonoma, Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa, ranked A, is the choice if the trip leans towards Sonoma. Most of its 196 rooms take dogs, there is a dog menu, and it runs a Dog Day Out partnership with Pets Lifeline, the local shelter it supports with part of its $150 pet fee.

Eat and Drink

Start on the river at Napa Yard on First Street, an outdoor restaurant and beer garden by the Oxbow with a pub menu cooked over open flame, craft beer on tap, wine flights and cocktails from Concordia Spirits, the distillery on the site. Its own answer to whether it is dog friendly is "Yes, we love dogs". A few doors along, Gott's Roadside has been serving Napa since 1999, from a roadside diner on Highway 29 to a James Beard award. The California Burger comes with a fried egg, bacon and balsamic onions, and the Downtown Napa Association calls its large open patio perfect for anyone walking with a dog.

For dinner, Angèle has brought the cooking of the French countryside to the historic Hatt Building on the Napa River since 2002, named by its founder, Bettina Rouas, for her grandmother. The Downtown Napa Association says its patio welcomes dogs of every kind as long as they are well behaved, and the tables look straight over the water.

Fieldwork Brewing Company on McKinstry Street pours its own beer alongside Detroit-style pizzas from a newly reopened kitchen, and its patio, in the downtown association's words, has plenty of space for your dog to sprawl out in the sun. Each year it throws Doggoween: on Saturday 31 October, from midday to 2pm, dogs in costume parade at every Fieldwork taproom, and the crowd votes for the winners. On Main Street, Downtown Joe's is a family-owned brewery and scratch kitchen whose own site promises a heated patio that welcomes pets, for the cooler evenings. And for the morning, BarnHouse Napa Brews on Clinton Street is downtown's coffee shop and pub, pouring its own roasts, local beer and Irish coffees with English sausage rolls, pies and homemade pastries, and it says "Dog Friendly!" on its front page.

Walks and Parks

Alston Park is the walk to plan the day around. The city describes it as 157 acres of open space on Dry Creek Road with both on and off lead dog areas, and it is one of only three places in Napa where the city lets a dog run free. The off lead ground is in the designated areas only, the rest of the park is walked on the lead, and it opens from sunrise to sunset.

Across Browns Valley, Westwood Hills Park is the shaded one, a hilly city park of hiking trails, and Carneros recommends it for its wooded paths and views over the town. Dogs walk its trails on the lead.

The river runs through everything. The Napa River Trail follows the water between Trancas Street and Kennedy Park in two stretches of about four miles in all, and it is an easy walk before dinner at Angèle or Napa Yard. At its southern end, Kennedy Park is the city's big riverside park, and its undeveloped areas are the third place in Napa where a dog can come off the lead.

For a longer outing, the Napa Valley Vine Trail is the paved path that runs up the valley for walkers and cyclists, and Napa County's parks district lists it among the trails that welcome dogs.

Good to Know

The City of Napa's rules allow dogs in any park and on any trail on a lead no longer than six feet, except in the off lead areas at Alston, Shurtleff Park and the undeveloped parts of Kennedy Park, and dogs are not allowed in any playground. At Alston you pick up after your dog, and the park closes at sunset. On the Vine Trail dogs stay on the lead at all times. Napa Yard asks for dogs on the lead and well behaved, and Angèle's welcome is for well behaved dogs on its patio. At Carneros a dog may be left in the cottage only in a crate, and two dogs is the limit, as it is at Stanly Ranch. The Meritage keeps dogs out of its restaurants and pool area and does not service the room while a dog is in it alone. Stanly Ranch keeps dogs out of the indoor dining room, the spa and the pool, and Fairmont Sonoma keeps them out of its bar and restaurant and asks that they are not left alone. Only some rooms take dogs at Carneros and the Meritage, so tell the hotel you are bringing a dog when you book.